Rick Noland commentary: Mr. Happy gets sappy

This is going to take every nice bone in my body — and some sarcasm — but let’s attempt to Rick-o-chet around the world of sports in a positive fashion:

Not a huge fan of the NFL’s parity-based system, but the league got it right this season: The four best teams will meet in the conference championships. …

Really looking forward to another Tom Brady-Peyton Manning duel when New England travels to Denver. Who knows? It might be the last time two of the league’s all-time greats square off in a big game. …

Don’t really care who wins the San Francisco-Seattle game, but it should be an old-fashioned defensive struggle decided by one or two big plays. …

So all the Patriots can do is pass, huh? Who woulda thunk that New England would score six touchdowns against Indianapolis and all would come on the ground? …

Happy retirement to Dan Dierdorf. (His asinine comments that New England’s punter should have allowed himself to be tackled at his own 2-yard line rather than take a safety make it clear that it’s time.) …

For those of you who like screaming at your television screen, not all is lost: We still have Brent Musburger. …

Hey, whomever the Browns eventually hire as head coach still has not lost a game with the team. …

(I told you this was going to be difficult.)

The Cavaliers may have lost by an NBA-season-high 44 points Sunday in Sacramento, but they’re 1-1 on their current five-game road trip. …

The Kings’ Isaiah Thomas isn’t nearly as good as Isiah Thomas was, but Kyrie Irving tried to make him look that way. …

(That’s kinda positive, isn’t it?)

Congrats to Medina High graduate Kenny Kaminski, who followed his breakout game against Ohio State with five 3-pointers Saturday as Michigan State beat Minnesota in overtime. …

A bigger congrats to Kaminski for battling through some tough times and getting his career back on track. …

Top-level Division I college basketball recruits aren’t an everyday occurrence in Medina County boys basketball, but we’re going to have another one down the road in current Bees sophomore Jon Teske. …

Not only can’t you teach 6-foot-10 — the sophomore may still grow some more! — but Teske also has some skills. Give him two more years of high school to develop and put on some weight and the kid will have his pick of big-time colleges. …

Cliff Collyer, who had to sit out the first 11 games of the season after transferring from Cloverleaf, is going to give the Wadsworth boys basketball team a big lift when he returns. …

The Medina boys, meanwhile, have the look of a regional qualifier — as long as the talented Bees stay focused. …

The most enjoyable team to watch in the county is Buckeye. Having quotable players and a likable coach in Matt Saunders doesn’t hurt, either. …

Medina and undersized but scrappy Highland, which knows how to capitalize on its strengths, hide its weaknesses and is always well-prepared, are a close second. …

The most surprising squad is Black River, which has already won twice as many games (2) as it did the last two seasons combined. The Pirates still have some work to do, but they’re playing hard enough to stay in a lot of games. …

OK, since all this niceness has me on the verge of singing “Kumbaya,” we better stop for this week.